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Harvard Reference Examples

Examples of how to reference Books, E-mails, Journals, Websites and more in the Harvard Style

The Harvard Referencing System is one of the preferred layouts for citing sources, mainly used in academic work. It is a relatively strict way of arranging the information in the bibliography section of essays and reports.

Different types of media have different formats under the Harvard System.

Example of Referencing a Book

Peters, T. (2019). A Brief History of Thermodynamics. 5th ed. London: Bathsheba. pp.10-11.

Example of Referencing an Email

Smith, A. (2024). Email to Callum Myers. Redacted research query. 10 August 2024.

Example of Referencing a Film

Apocalypse Now. (1979). [Film]. San Francisco: Omni Zoetrope.

The Harvard Reference Generator tool on this site takes in the raw information - things like author, title, year of publication - and creates the reference in the correct form.

You can then highlight and copy this into the bibliography section of your report - arranging them alphabetically by authors' surnames.

You then reference this next to the relevant section within the main text of your essay in the format (Author, Year) such as (Smith, 1983).

If you are citing more than one work from the same author in the same year, you add a letter to the year to differentiate them (not the first one, though)

e.g. (Smith, 2021) (Smith, 2021b) (Smith, 2021c).

Please note: The Harvard Referencing format originated at Harvard University, but other institutions adopted it. However, many developed their own variants of the Harvard formatting with different rules. You should always check to ensure you are abiding by the correct regulations as laid down by the institution you are submitting to.